Automobile lock and housing therefor



J une 24, 1924.

VV F.53ERJHL AUTOMOILE Loox AND HOUSING THEREFGR v 3 Sheets-Sheet lFiled Aug. 31

AUTMUBILE LOCK AND HOUSING THEREFOH Filed Aug.

Patented June 24, 1924.

nutren STATES VILLAM F. BET-TELL, OF FORDYCE, ARKANSAS.

AUTOMOBILE LOCK AND HOUSING THEREFOR.

implication filed August 31, 1923. Serial No. 660.378.

Be ii'. known that l'l'inrnm F. Berici.. ot Fordyce. in the county otDallas and State ot .firliansus a citizen ot the United States. haveinvented certain new and usetul linproveun'nts in Automobile l'ioclisand Housings Vliet-olor. ot which the Following is a specilicution.

rthis inrention relates to ignition switch locks ot the type disclosedin an application tiled by ine Noveniher l, 199i', Serial No. 598.347.ln my said application l showed and descrihed a mechanism in which apermutation loch controlled the admission ot a circuit-closiin;1 licy sothat it the key were withdrawn and the combination upset the motor wouidhe stopped4 and could not he started until. the combination had heenproperly operated to permit the reinsertion of the key. This mechanismwas elticient and generally satisfactory loutl it. sometimes happenedthat, the operator would forget to break the combination afterwithdrawing the key so that any one could push in the key and start themotor.

The primary object of my present inrention. therefore. is` to provide alocking mechanism in which. while the insertion of the key will closethe ignition circuit., the Withdrawal of the key will not. hreak the,circuit and stop the motor hut, the motor will continue to run until thecombination of the lock is hrolen, To again start. the motor7 the. keymust he pushed in and this cannot he done until the lock has heen set hyone knowing` the comhiinition.

Another object. of the invention is to provide a novel, compact andei'iicient means tor securing the lock within a container or asing.Other objects will incidentally appca r in the course of the tollowinggdescription.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in whichMFig. l is a side elevation oi a casing housing my present improvements.:i portion ot the instrument hoard being slui'wn in scction,

Fig. 2 an end elevation.

Fig. f5 is a longitudinal section shtnving` the circuit closed,

Fig. 3 is a View similarto Fig'. Il. showing; the switch open.

4 is a plan View of the loch casing with the container in horizontalsection.

Figs. and 6. are transverse sections, showing. the active and releasedpositions of the face vviews ot a double eccentric forming` part of themechanism shown in Fig. 7.

Figs. l1 to 18 are elevations o1" the t uinblers.

In the drawings. the reference numeral l indicates a portion of theinstrument board o't` an automobile to which is secured the open end ota container or housing 2, a head 3' fitting snugly in the end of thecontainer. The coil t is secured in the container in any convenient orpreferred manner, and the container is provided with an outlet 5 for thecircuit wires 6.'

Upon the end of the wall of the head 3 is secured a lock case 7, theinner or forward end of said case consisting,r of a. plate 8 of S0vulcanite. fiber or other non-eonducti1gma terial. Spaced terminal posts9 :11e s *cured in and extend through the plate 8 and7 at the forwardside of the plate.laro equipped with terminal clips l() in which thecircuit wires are engaged. At the rear side of the plate 8, within thelock case, the posts 9 carry contacts or switch inemhers 1t which are inthe torni of oycn'hangfinpr resilient tips adapted to he engaged by acircuitelosing so switch meinher l2 as.will presently more Yfullyappeal'. At the center of the plate 8 secured a hearing sleeve lf3 inwhich is rotatahly tittcd a spindle 14 which extends through the lockcase. the head 3, and the instrument board, and is provided at its reartree, end with a millcd'linob 15. A dial 16 secured or produced upon theinstrument. hoard concentric with they spindle and a pointer or indexlinger 1.7 is secured upon lthe spindle to play orer and cooperate withthe. dial.

A master tumbler 18 has its huh 19 secured npon the spindle with theends of the' huh abutting the sleeve. 13 und the rear end 105 wall ofthe lock case, and a series of openings 20 is formed through the tumblerconcentric with the hub, a head stud 2l being engaged in one. of saidopenings determinate aecordin f to the coinhinationselected for 11o theloch. A springpressed dog or click J2 is mounted upon the rear end Wallor plate partly in longitudinal section showing o.)

Ai a

. infronty of the foren'ios't tiiiiiblerlaud a` of the Alock case inposition to engage the openings 2t)s as they successively aline with thedog whenthe tumbler is rotated. The dog aids in holding the tumbler atrest, and the oi'ierator may follow the corn'ibination by countingtheclicking sounds ot' the dog en` gaging thel openings as well as bywatching they digits`A or other characters upon the dial 1G. Othertuinblers 23, 24'. 25, are rotatably titted upon the sleeve 13 and eachtumbler provided with a circular series of openings 27 to receive studs28 like the stud 2l, the master tumbler` however, having a stud headupon its front. tace only while the other tumblers have stud heads uponboth faces.' Spacing washers 29 are litted upon the bearing sleevebetween the several t'iumblers and spring 30 is coiled around the sleevebetween the. Joren'iost washer and the plate 8, the

tunnblers being thus maintained in such relati(iii-,t.liat the studheads may easily engage when the combinatioii 1s operated and theltuiiiblers may yield slightly to avoid jam- 4 ming when an attempt. islmade to push inl the. key or switch before the combination is set. Astop pin or lug 31 projects from the plate 8 intot'lie path of the studhead 32 on the front face of the innermost tumbler 25 to arrest thenioveinent of thc 'tumbler ,at the proper point when the. combination isto be broken or worked, and each tumbler is provided with an opening 33which is at the same radial distance' from the bearing sleeve as theopening'- 31 through the plate 8. lVhen the combination has beenproperly set the lopening 34 and the openings 33 will be in alinementand the circuit key or pin may be inserted. W hen the combination isbroken, tlicopenings will be out of aline nient. and aline-ment thereofto permit insertion o' the key or pin cannot be effected unless/thecombination be known.

'lhe key or pin is slidably itted through a sleeve 36 'which hasthreaded engagement within a tliiiiible 37 which is secured iii thcinstrument board and tlief end Ofthe lock case.` lnward movement of thepin is lini- 'ited by impact .of a tlangopr shoulder 3S thereon with theend of the sleeve 36 and outward -nioveineiit is limited by the head 39impinging against the inner end of the sleeve. The said headA is taperedso that it :to provide' a positive guide and support for the headv 39.The. switch plate or circuitclosingniember 12 is ablock orplate ofvulcaniteforber bearing against the plate 8 andslidably held thereto bythespring 3i) 'bearing' againsta washer L11 tilted upon the ysleeve 13in contact vwith the switch plate.

The switch plate isL constructed with acen- At the lower end ofthey/switch plate is sex cured a wear or striker plate 44. having ahorizontal flange 15j-along its upper edge and provided at its loweredge with a central depending tongueittl which is inclined toward theplate 8 and. in the lower posi'- tion of the switch plate, projects intothev bore ot' the busliingvaanld in tlie path ot' the circuit-closingkey'ior pin 35. vWhen the switch plate is in its raised position. tlieflange 45 crosses the orbit of the. stud head 32 on the tumbler Q5.so/that. it the tumbler be rotated, said stud he/ad will Ybe caused toride on said flange and thereby' eifectdown ward movement of the switchplate.

.'\ssurning Vthe motor -to be at rest. the pin or key 35 willhave beendrawn out, the combination broken. and the switch plate lowered. lVlienthel motor is to be started. the spindle 14 is manipulated inaccordancewvith the'combin'ation for which the tiirnblers have beenarranged so thatI the openings 33 will be brought into alinen'ient.whereupon the pin 35 is pushed in so that the head 39 enters the opening34. As the head 39 enters the opening 34,v it will impinge againstthe,inclined tongue -tG and` consequently, exert a lifting force uponthe switch plate which will raise the llatter and carry the contactplate 43 under and into close frictional engagement with the vlips 11 toclose the circuit which will permit the motor'toI Operate. 7When themotor is to be stopped. the pin 35 is first drawn Vout to the fullextent or" its movement but this act, does not break the circuitinasmuch as the frictional engagement between the switch plate and theadltlfi jacent parts` is sufficient to hold it in its raised posit-ion.To lower the switch plate. thespindle 14 must be manipulated so thatthetuinbler Q5 will lic rotated and the stud 32`eaused'to ride upon theflange 45. as above stated. .This action breaks the conibination. andthe piu cannot then be' again pushed in until atteithe tunililers havebeen properly set by one knowing the conibination.

At"diamerically opposite points ot the.

`head or closure '3 l secure.v by'hinges fr?. the

locking arms or levers t8 which extend lon# gitudinallji' ot the closureand project through the/open end -olf' the same.

are -adapted to engage .behind -a rib-or flange pn the housing orcontainer whereq' Y At the vtree, ends oit these arms lare lugs 49which,

by to lock the closure in place. It will be noted that the arms areentirely within the pntainer so that tampering therewith is `5yi1nalinement with the opening 34 in the kp ate 8. This hub {i3-has anangular bore o4 and carries oppositely extending eccen- `trics 55, oneof which is provided with a lateral pin orl lug! 56 adapted to play in aslot 57 in the plate .51 concentric with the hub and limit the movementof the hub and theeccentrics by engaging the ends of` the slot. Eacheccentric lits within a circular opening provided therefor in theshorter arm of an angle lever 58, the levers being held upon 'theeccentrics by the plates 51 and 52, and the longer arms of the leversextending in opposite directions and terminating in T-heads 49 whichhave their stems engaged in longitudinal slots 60 in the locking arms48. It will be readily understood that if the longer radii of theeccentrics be turned in one direction, the angle levers will swing thearms 48 so as to carry the lugs 49 into engagement with the rib 50,while vif said radii be turned in the opposite direction the lugs willbe withdrawn to permit removal of the closure. To effect movement of theangle levers, I provide the key 61 which has an angular end 62 adaptedto engage in the angular bore 54 of the hub 53. To permit the use -ofthe key 61 the sleeve er ferrule 36 is withdrawn from the thimble 37after which the key 61 is inserted, as shown in Fig. 7.

aving thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1s:- l. In apparatusfor the purpose set forth, the combination of a circuit-closer, anelement insertible te close the circuit-closer and withdrawable withoutopening the same, and means to permit or prevent the insertion of saidelement,lsaid means acting to open the circuit-closer when set toprevent the insertion of said element.

2. In apparatus for' the purpose set forth,

, the combination of spaced electric contacts, a switch plate arrangedto engage said contacts and close a circuit through the same, means formoving the switch plate to active position only, and means to permit orprevent the application of the firstmentioned means, said last-mentionedmeans moving the switch plate to inactive position when being set toprevent application of the first-mentioned means.

3. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of anelectric switch, a key for closing the switch, and a permutationmechanism to permit or prevent the insel'- tion of the key, saidmechanism including an' element operable to open the switch when the keyis withdrawn.

4. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of spacedelectrical contacts, a slidably mounted switch plate adapted to engageand close a circuit through the contacts, a key adapted to raise theswitch plate into circuit-closing' position, means for frictionallyholding the switch plate in raised position, and means to lower theswitch plate, said means being operable to prevent er permit theinsertion of the key.

5. In apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of spacedelectrical contacts, a slidably mounted switch plate adapted to engageand close a circuit through the con` tacts, a key adapted to raise theswitch plate into circuit-closing position, means for frictionallyholding,r the switch plate in raised position. and a permutationmechanism to prevent or permit the insertion of the'key, said meansincluding a tumbler arranged to lower the switch plate when 'the keyyiswithdrawn.

6. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of spacedcontacts, a switch plate mounted below said, contacts for verticalsliding` movement, a key insertible below the switch plate to raise thesame into engagement with the spaced contacts, and a permutationmechanism t'o prevent or permit the insertion of the key and includin'gra tumbler arranged adjacent the switch plate and adapted to lower thesame when the key is withdrawn.

7. In an apparatus for the purpose set forth, the combination of spacedelectrical contacts, a vertically slidable switch plate adapted at itsupper end to engao'e said contacts and close a circuit therethrough, aflange extending across the switch plate below its upper end, aninclined tongue depending from the lower end of the .switch plate` a keymovable against said tongue. whereby lo raise the switch plate intoengagement with the spaced contacts, and a tumbler adapted in oneposition to permit operation of the key and in another position to preYont use of the key, said tumbler being provided with a stud to ride onsaid ilange and lower .the switch plate as the tumbler moves intoposition to prevent use of the key.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

WILLIAl/I I4". BEI/'ILL

